Happy Halloween!
by Ronnie Jane
Summary: Barry and Oliver are exposed to meta that shows them their worst fears.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

It was All Hallows Eve when Barry showed up at the Arrow Cave to ask Oliver and Felicity for help with a meta that made a person relive their worst fear. Once, Barry arrived there he explained that this meta had already caused several people to die from literal fright and needed to be stopped. After he explained they both agreed to help and Felicity tracked the meta on her computer. After finding her, Oliver and Barry were off and finally managed to corner her in an alley.

"Give up! You've got nowhere to go," yelled Barry.

The girl didn't and set her sight on Oliver, as if she could sense something was off with him and sneered at him while saying, "You've got a lot of horror in your past. How about I give you aa dose of fear with it?"

Barry ran over to stop her. Despite his speed, he was a second too late. All of a sudden there was an icy mist in the air. The next second Oliver was on the ground gasping.

"No! No! Chase – please," Oliver managed to say while trying to breath.

Barry had never heard Oliver like that and it shook him to his very core. He then accessed his speed, knocked the girl out and put the power dampening cuffs on her. Finally, he tied her up and left her for the cops. It was only after this, he tried to approach Oliver who was still struggling to breath.

"Oliver. Oliver. Calm down. It's going to be okay."

Oliver looked at him with absolute terror in his eyes. However, he seemed to recognize Barry and allowed himself to be taken back to the Arrow Cave. When they got there, Oliver went and sat down in the corner with his head in his hands. After Felicity saw this she went over to Barry and asked him what had happened.

"The meta. Oliver mentioned a man named Chase- "

"That's not good," Felicity interrupted.

"Who is Chase," Barry asked.

"The man that tortured Oliver and made him think something terrible. Oliver wouldn't let any of us in after that," replied Felicity.

"I'll try to get through to him. Her powers may last awhile. Why don't you go get some rest? I'll stay with him," Barry said.

Felicity thought for a minute and agreed. She also said she would explain what happened to John and Lyla and ask them to keep William for the rest of the night after they got done Trick or Treating. After explain this to Barry and talking to Oliver for a minute about William, who had only looked up to make sure he understood her, she left.

Barry then walked over, grabbed Oliver's bow and put it away. Next, he grabbed some of Oliver spare clothes and got him to change. After that, he went to change and put the rest of their gear away. He then went and sat down, across from Oliver and waited for him to speak. Thirty minutes later Oliver seemed to be calming down and decided to try and speak, but couldn't. So, Barry decided to start the conversation.

"Oliver, are you going to be alright?"

"I think so. I just-, "he broke off not being able to finish.

"I get that. How about I take you back to your apartment?"

"No. I'll be fine on my own."

"I'm not letting you stay alone tonight."

"Fine."

It was with great difficulty that Barry held back a retort of happiness and grabbed Oliver. He then ran them back to Oliver's apartment and once there let Oliver go. They both then walked over to the couch and sat down. After a few minutes, Oliver decided to try talking again.

"I saw what happened with Chase. When he had me, he made me believe that I enjoyed killing. I'm terrified that I'm what he told me I was."

Barry though for a minute and looked Oliver straight in the eyes and spoke, "Oliver. Stop. You do not enjoy killing. You may have done some bad things in your life, but get this we all have. The point is, you've changed. You're the person that a lot of people look up to- including me. You inspire and you couldn't do that if you didn't have a light inside of you."

Oliver sat there for a minute with his mouth hanging open before he said, "you're right."

Barry smiled and then started to shake. He had seen a flash of yellow. His Mother's killer.

"Oliver, there's an evil speedster here."

Oliver then realized Barry had been affected by the meta to and was now seeing the man who had killed her mother.

"Barry- "

"He's not really here is he," it was more of a statement that a question.

"I should go. I can't be around you when I'm like this," exclaimed Barry while standing up.

Oliver than rose to his feet too and put his hands-on Barry's shoulders and pushed him back down on the couch, all the while saying "You are not leaving. You helped me, now let me help you."

After this, Oliver sat back down beside Barry and waited patiently for Barry to talk about what he saw. That was if Barry wanted to talk at all. He knew that Barry was like him in that sense, if he didn't want to talk it was hard getting him to open up. After about thirty minutes, Barry finally decided to open up.

"I miss my parents. I keep trying to move on and every time I try there's another setback. My Mom dies. Then Zoom comes along and breaks my back, steals my powers and murders my Dad just to prove that I'm like him. I also screwed up everyone's lives with Flashpoint."

Barry then put his head in his hands and started to cry. Oliver took a breath and put a hand on Barry's shoulder.

"Barry, look at me," he said and it was only after Barry complied that he spoke again.

"None of that is your fault. You could never be like Zoom. You've had some very bad things happen to you in your life and you could've been a very different person. Instead, you've become a person that inspires and gives hope to everyone around you. Particularly me."

Barry smiled, but then his voice shook as he said, "I wasn't fast enough to- "

Oliver seemed to pick up on what Barry was going to say and replied, "Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. Your fear is failure, but you cannot be afraid to fail. All you can do is your best. That is all any of us can do."

"I know. I'm just scared. I' can't lose anyone else." admitted Barry.

"It's okay to be scared. I'm scared of all sorts of things. The most important thing is not to let it stop you from living. You should also remember that loved ones have a way of always staying with you long after their gone."

They sat in silence for a while after that, just enjoying each other's company. It was near midnight when Oliver suggested that they turn in for the evening and Barry agreed. Oliver got up first and proceeded to offer Barry a hand to help him up. Barry accepted and was surprised when he was pulled into a hug. Despite this, he quickly relaxed and returned the embrace. A minute later, they both let go and Oliver showed Barry where the guest room was.

"Night, Barry."

"Night, Ollie."

Then they retired for the evening and the next day they both went back to protecting their cities. All the while, both of them knew that they would always be there for one another no matter what.

A/N: Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoyed the story! Please review! Also, I apologize for any grammar mistakes.


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